


Rushing In

by Tora_Uran



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Sick Clint Barton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 20:43:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4277277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tora_Uran/pseuds/Tora_Uran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint has always had the habit of rushing into things without thinking things through. For better or worse and usually at bad times, like when he's feeling under the weather.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rushing In

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to go with something just fluffy this time for this pairing for a change.

If there was anything Clint prided himself recently it was the fact that he had gotten really good in getting people to believe that he was someone with that had his shit together. Because for anyone who truly knew him they knew he was more of the kind of person that just let it fall and hoped he would not step in a pile of it as he made his way through life. If anything just living in the structured environment of S.H.I.E.L.D. helped him from getting too in over his head for most things. Life as an Avenger was not too different outside of having a bit more freedom that he had no idea what to do with. Except find new and creative ways to screw his life up.

Case and point would be one Pietro Maximoff who was finally okayed for duty after nearly dying in their battle against Ultron. Which he would not have had to have dealt with if Clint had thought past getting hold of the kid that needed saving and remembered he was basically in a war zone and needed to be prepared for shit to hit the fan. He was lucky Pietro was there to save them and he was lucky that he was just fast enough to only be critically wounded and not dead.

Of course he had thanked him, but apparently no one else thought it counted since it was when he was sleeping in the special medical bed Dr. Cho had used to heal him. But Clint stood firm in the belief that Pietro heard him, or why else would the brat be looking at him so smugly these days.

Of course these days he found himself acutely aware of the younger man in general. Whenever he was in eyesight Clint found his eyes falling into his line of sight as a default. He found that he had picked up many of the subtle cues of the speedster that he could guess his mood in a glance.

He had plenty of practice with it as well since Pietro liked to hunt him down when he was trying to practice and mess around with him. Or basically what Clint was becoming more and more convinced was grade school flirting. He of course did not have pigtails to pull on but Pietro found a way around that by catching his arrows in mid-flight. 

Sometimes Clint was in a good enough mood to make a game of it, but he had been feeling under the weather since the morning and did not have the patience for bi-color haired speedsters. 

“Cut it out, Maximoff,” he growled, as another arrow failed to hit the target because of outside interference. 

Pietro just gave Clint that wide cocky grin of his as he twirled the arrow around. “And how are you going to stop me?”

“Shot the next one up your ass,” he said when he could not think of anything witty to say. He may have to go see Dr. Cho to see if he caught a bug if that continued.

That seemed to ruffle something with Pietro as he up in Clint’s face the next thing he knew. He definitely looked mad and a little confused. He did not say anything but looked to be challenging Clint to speak up again.

All Clint was doing though was marveling at how close they were. He could make out individual eyelashes around those beautiful blue eyes of the speedster. On impulse he took advantage of their proximity and leant in to kiss the younger man.

Then Pietro did the one thing Clint had been convinced was impossible and completely froze. That was not the reaction he had hoped for and some common sense returned to him and he pulled back. 

He was not sure what jumble of words escaped his mouth next but he was certain it was some kind of excuse so he could leave quickly. Which he did leaving a still shocked looking Pietro behind. 

There was no destination planned for his retreat just that he needed to get away. The aimless walking though did give him plenty of time to berate himself. It was far from the first time he had done something foolish because of a crush but that did nothing to ease his mind. He was old enough to realize that life did not come together like a romcom movie. Because if it did Pietro would have confessed to have liked him back and it would be the start of a perfect relationship despite all the friction that came between them beforehand. Instead there was probably going to be a lot of awkwardness that would linger for who knew how long.

After ending up in the research department of the complex for the second time in his aimless wandering he decided to head to his room. Whatever had been making him feel off earlier was getting worse and he could justify a nap.

When he woke up it was the next day and he felt completely sore all over and tired. His body also felt tender to the touch and every once in a while everything decided to spin on him. That did not even touch on the waves of nausea that came and went but he at least was not at the point of actually throwing up. Yet.

With a sigh he got up and worked on getting himself to look presentable, as he was willing to give in and go see Dr. Cho about whatever bug he managed to catch. It preoccupied him enough that it was not until he caught a glimpse of Pietro down the hallway past some staff did he remember about the kiss. He immediately decided to take a detour up a flight of stairs even though it took him even further away from the medical area of the head quarters. 

Something went wrong about halfway up the stairs though. He was certain he had gone up to the next step so he had no idea why he was suddenly lying at the bottom of the steps and in incredible pain. He heard someone yelling and he wanted to somehow get their attention so they could get him some help.

Before he could get himself sorted out to do so Dr. Cho was suddenly there, kneeling over him as she began to do a check of his body. 

“Clint, can you hear me?” she asked as she carefully made the checks for head and neck injuries.

“Yea,” was all he could get out with a groan.

She looked at him in relief. “You need to stay with us, I think you may have a concussion.” 

“That what hurts?”

“One of the things.”

He was amazed she could answer the question as even to him it sounded like a slur of words. She looked over her shoulder to ask for a stretcher to be brought over so they could get him to the infirmary. 

“No, you stay,” she then told someone that was out of Clint’s range of vision, “I need someone to watch him to make sure he stays conscious as I contact the nurses and let them know what they need prepped.”

Clint realized he should have known it would have been Pietro when the young man came into view finally as Dr. Cho went to make her call. He was the Avenger that was in the area at the time. 

Pietro looked anxious and it made Clint feel the same way. Of course the fact that the rush of adrenaline he had was wearing off did not help matters as it was getting harder to concentrate on anything else.

“You need to stay awake,” the young man warned him, after Clint had shut his eyes after a stab of pain reached him from his left arm.

“I am,” he muttered, hoping it sounded like the words he was trying to make.

He heard Pietro say something but he had said it in a softer voice so he could not pick it up through the growing fog of pain. 

“What?” he groggily asked, cracking his eyes open to look at the young man. “Just say what you hafta.”

Pietro’s usual annoyed look made a comeback as it mixed with the anxiety as he stated, “I just did.”

“Wha-?” he asked as he was loosing his ability to focus. Then a wave of nausea came over him suddenly. “Gonnabesick.”

He knew he heard Pietro say something after that, but he was too busy trying to make sure he did not throw up on him to try to listen. Thankfully the stretcher then arrived and with Dr. Cho’s instruction he was loaded up into it. Unfortunately that did make the bile in his throat rise. He at least got it down until they reached the infirmary where he lost that battle and unceremoniously threw up. After that everything was a blur but he was certain he was probably better for it.

When all was said and done he did suffer a mild concussion and a fractured left arm. It was just bruises after that and apparently the flu. In any case Dr. Cho had him in one of her fancy medical beds to help with the healing, though not much could be done while he was still sick.

Pietro visited him early on, looking nervous for reasons Clint could not place. It was not like he pushed him down the steps or anything. 

After a few moments of awkward silence when it seemed like they were both waiting for the other to speak first the younger man spoke up. “I was looking for you, before you fell,” he told Clint, “I wanted to talk about that kiss.”

The archer’s stomach turned for once not because of his current illness. He was really hoping that if he did not think of that kiss it would somehow no longer exist and not have to be talked about. 

“It’s-,” Pietro started then stopped as he looked at Clint. He looked a bit annoyed with him but then he leant over to place a tender kiss on Clint’s lips. When he pulled back he told him, “Because you look like you may be having trouble hearing me again.”

He was certain there were not words that could adequately convey his emotions and unfortunately he was in no condition to pull Pietro to him to return the kiss. So he had to settle with smiling like a fool at him. 

“Better wait for me to get out of this thing,” he told the younger man when words finally came back to him. It took more effort than it should but it was worth it to see Pietro’s smile.

When Clint was finally cleared though Pietro had caught the flu. It was probably for the best as it meant he got to spend plenty of time with the younger man as he took care of him and avoid being teased about having trouble with stairs and being contagious. Of course Pietro may not have seen it the same way but he did not complain. Or at least not too much.


End file.
